After seven years of studying the gene editing technique, a group of researchers from the National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) based in Balcarce, managed to modify the polyphenol oxidase gene present in potatoes, whose enzyme causes enzymatic browning in tubers, that is, turns them black or oxidizes them when cut and exposed to air.
This loss of quality not only generates the rejection of the consumer and the industry, but also affects the nutritional properties of the fresh potato and its derived products. From now on, the specialists will continue making tests to corroborate that the identified plants improve their behavior as a result of the shutdown of this gene.
"We verified that we are capable of generating within a potato cell a gene editing machinery that specifically targets the chosen gene and changes its genetic sequence," said Sergio Feingold, the director of the INTA's Agricultural Biotechnology Laboratory.
"The technique used was gene editing," Feingold said of the technology used, also known as gene scissors or CRISPR / Cas9. "It makes Intentionally targeted changes in the genetic material of plants and animals for consumption, with the aim of improving their production and quality," he said.
In the case of tubers, "the cutting or peeling, as well as the mechanical damage suffered during harvest, transport and storage, lead to the generation of brown or black spots caused by oxidation, conditions that cause losses," said Matias Gonzalez, a doctoral fellow at Conicet and a member of the project together with Gabriela Massa, Leonardo Storani, and Cecilia Decima Oneto.
"According to the results achieved, 15% of the edited plants that have been analyzed so far, showed changes in the sequence of this gene, which represents a high efficiency," said Massa.
National production stands at around 2.43 million tons of potatoes per year, and controlling this problem would avoid significant economic losses for production and industry. This is the third most important crop in human nutrition, after wheat, and rice.
The next goal "will be the application of gene editing in potato varieties obtained from the INTA breeding program, both in this and in other genes of nutritional importance in order to add value to the crop and improve its quality," Gonzalez said.
Source: baenegocios.com